6 provinces on red alert for dengue fever
6 provinces on red alert for dengue fever
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government declared on Monday an extraordinary occurrence of
dengue fever in six provinces after 102 people died while another
4,700 are being treated for the disease.
Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari said after a Cabinet
meeting the alert status had been imposed in Jakarta, West Java,
East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara and
East Nusa Tenggara, which were among the 12 provinces hardest hit
by the outbreak last year.
"There is a significant increase in the number of patients
with dengue fever. However, the figure is less than that of last
year," she said.
Under the extraordinary emergency, state hospitals are ordered
to treat patients in third class wards for free. Such a status is
declared when the number of patients doubles that of the previous
year.
The government announced an extraordinary occurrence of dengue
fever in 12 provinces affected by the dengue outbreak in February
last year and allocated Rp 500 million (US$54,600) in cash and
medicine for each of the local governments.
The outbreak was considered over and the alert status lifted
after more than three months, during which 59,321 cases and 669
deaths were recorded in 24 out of 32 provinces. Jakarta and East
Java were the areas hardest hit by the outbreak, where cases
accounted for half of the national figure.
Dengue fever outbreaks have shown a rising trend between 1999
and 2004, with the most virulent DEN-3 serotype blamed for the
major outbreak last year.
"We have disseminated information about the disease to the
public and are examining which strain has caused this year's
outbreak," Siti said. She added the government had not yet
obtained the data on the virus that has sparked the current
outbreak.
Four distinct, but closely related, serotypes cause dengue,
with the Aedes aegypti mosquito the vector. All four serotypes,
DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4, have been found in dengue patients
here.
Dengue symptoms can range from mild, flu-like symptoms to its
most severe form, called dengue hemorrhagic fever, or DHF. DHF
causes damage to the blood vessels, leading to spontaneous
bleeding and shock, and can be fatal.
Many patients die due to being admitted to hospital too late.
While 17 people have succumbed to dengue fever in Jakarta so
far, two more people have died in West Java, bringing the death
toll to 32 in the neighboring province.
A West Java health agency official, Fatimah Resmiati, said on
Monday the outbreak had affected 25 regencies and municipalities
across the province. Subang and Majalengka are the regencies hit
hardest, she added.
"We have dispatched medical teams to the two regencies to help
local health agencies cope with the outbreak," Fatimah said,
adding that 837 people had contracted the disease in this year's
outbreak.
The outbreak affected 18,682 people with 211 fatalities last
year in West Java.
Fatimah said her office had allocated Rp 400,000 to subsidize
each economically disadvantaged patient. The local administration
has provided Rp 5 billion to pay for the medical treatment of
dengue fever patients.
Dengue fever was first recorded in 1968 in Surabaya and
Jakarta, when it killed 24 people.
Papers -- Page 8